West Lothian 17/11

West Lothian gents substantial 30 shot win over fellow joint leaders Elgin (103-73) at Livingston was their fifth triumph in a row in Division 1 North of the national indoor bowls leagues and puts the long time giants of the Premier Division in pole position to make an immediate return to the top flight.

The continuation of their undefeated run is rewarded a by a two point lead over Elgin and is supported by a massive 157 shot margin plus while the rest of the chasing pack comprises Abbeyview on six points and a congested bottom rung of Turriff, Headwell, and Arbroath all with two points from their five games played. While the stock of WLIBC and their gents team of superstars fell to an all time low with last seasons shock relegation from the highest echelon of the sport the wake up call has been answered in such explosive style that they are the only national league team – out of 42 – to end the first half of the campaign with a 100percent record.

Wins for the rinks skipped by Mark Allison, James Speirs, and Calum Logan kept the faithful home support at The Inveralmond Stadium in a good frame of mind however there was concern that Thomas Mann suffered a double figure defeat. The phase analysis also makes a case for Elgin suffering an early impact from their long journey South as West Lothian started like an express train and powered to the 46-22 capture of the opening seven-end spell. WL continued to dominate the scoring in the second phase; but there 31-21 advantage did reflect a drop in pace and it was perhaps disappointing for them that Elgin showed admirable resilience by edging the third and final phase, 30-26. Rink Scores- Mark Allison 32 N Barker 12; James Speirs 28 B Andrews 12; Calum Logan 27 A.H. Wyllie 22; Thomas Mann 16 G Donaldson 27.

Balbardie IBC gents are finding life tough in their new environment of the Premier League and their latest experience is a 23 shot defeat (89-66) away to Paisley leaving the Bathgate based club propping up the B Division with just one win from their opening five games. Ewan Shearer skipped Calum Black, Lindsay Forrest, and Davie Ross to a good 25-16 win over Derek Stobo; but defeat was suffered on the rinks skipped by Walter McDougall, Sandy McDougall, and Mark Bonar. McDougall (Walter) faced a hammering at 22-6 down and ended up losing 25-13 to John Gilmarton while his brother Sandy slipped from 8-9 to a 23-12 defeat from Graeme Sloan; Bonar lost 25-16 to Dave Moffat.

The ladies of Balbardie compete in the Premier League East and suffered their fourth defeat in five when failing to make home environment count in an 80-68 setback against East Fife. Margo Duff made a big impression by skipping Betty Johnstone, Erin Fraser, and Helen Wilson to a sizeable 25-11 win over Julie Sword; but Sharon Leiitch slipped to a 19-16 defeat from 12-8 up against Alice Fyall; Pat Purdie lost to 22-17 to Lynn Stein and Angie Uttley, 28-10, to Ruth Stewart.

The playdown action of the Scottish Fours Championship dominates the bowling calendar this weekend with the gents representation from Balbardie and West Lothian parading their skills at Midlothian IBC. Balbardie have a bye into the first round where the rink of Davie Ross, Jimmy Mallon, Jim Speirs, and Walter McDougall open against their club champion counterparts from Berwickshire.

Calum Logan skips Blair Mackie, Raymond Logan, and Cameron Greer for WL and launch their campaign against Headwell in the prelim round.

East Lothian IBC is the host venue for the ladies champion rinks of Balbardie and West Lothian with their respective line ups comprising, Betty Johnstone, Angie Uttley, Helen Wilson, and Margo Duff, and Creena Docherty, Irene Wright, Carole Clarkson, and Margaret Russell.

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